Police Say Man Killed Woman, Himself Before House Fire

SEVERN, Md. (AP) -- Anne Arundel County Police say a man and woman who were found dead after a Severn house fire died in a murder-suicide.

The bodies of 59-year-old Diana Lynn Knight and 53-year-old Jeffrey Deberry were found in their home after an early morning fire on Dec. 10, police said in a news release Wednesday. The house had been undergoing construction because it had been damaged in a fire in February.

Authorities say autopsies showed that Knight and Deberry died from gunshot wounds to the head. Police say Deberry had been barred from the home after Knight got a temporary protective order against him the day before.

Officers say Deberry shot Knight, then shot himself.

Police say the Fire Marshal's Office ruled the cause of the fire as undetermined.

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